Page 8 of Dangerous Lies

Rose came over to him, mixed two other containers in the pail, and scrubbed the spot he’d finished cleaning. Together, they worked quickly. He wondered if in the future if he should carry plastic with him to put down on the ground before he took a shot. Someone had to clean up the mess.

“Clean up was so much faster with help.” Rose sighed as she stripped off her biohazard helmet and setiton the cart.

Ginger eyed the plastic containers of bugs. He preferred to squash them under his foot, not bring them back to his house as a pet. “What do you plan to do with them?”

“Tonight, I'll study them, but we have to gogetTyler first. He's going to be happy he didn't have to assist with the job today.”

Right, the young boy he’d seen in the pictures around the house. Not one of the pictures showed the father, which didn't surprise him ifitwas a bad breakup. The boy looked around the age of six and had bright red hair.Itwas the same color as his. He even had the same color eyes as him, which had made him pause at the photo. He’d wondered how the boy looked just like him as a kid but figuredithad to do with him having red hair and bright green eyes. Rose's eyes were a light blue, same as her sister’s. Brittany had long brown hair and Rose had long black hair, but he figureditwas dyed. Shecouldchange her hair color, but the freckles and the fair skin were a dead giveaway that she was a redhead just like her son.

“He enjoys this?” he asked. “Not sure young boys should be subjected to crime scenes.”

His cell in Hawaii came to mind. They’d made him use a bucket in his own room as a bathroom.

Rose narrowed her eyes, and he loved how her firecracker side which was about to explode. “I think Iknowwhat's best for my boy. Not all scenes are blood and guts. A lot of the time, I'll do the main part, and he will help do the up after.”

“Didn't mean to question your parenting,” he said. Guilt washed over him for even thinking she would subject her son to something he couldn't handle. “Should we pick up a pizza or something on the way? I'm starving.”

“We can. Tyler and I like to eat pineapple and ham.” She pushed the cart out of the warehouse.

When they reached the SUV, he pulled out his phone and ordered a supreme large for himself. She wanted a Hawaiian pizza.

Rose jumped into the driver's side, drove them to grab the pizza and then to the school.

A small boy with bright red hair raced toward the SUV. He threw open the door and jumped in. He eyed Ginger before he held up a bag with a black spider the size of a silver dollar.

“Look, Mom. Did I do good?”

Rose's face lit up as she took the bag from her son and held it up.

Hell no! The fucking thing was alive! Any day of the week, Gingercouldhandle a terrorist, but a giant spider he preferred dead. “Shouldn't we putitoutside?”

“No!” both Rose and Tyler yelled.

“Getbuckled in, and I'll hand him back,” Rose said to Tyler.

Tyler sat in his booster seat and held out his hand. “I thinkit'sa rare one, Mom.”

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “We will checkitout after dinner. This is my new friend Mr. Mueller he’s going to be staying with us for a while. Think of him as a bodyguard.”

Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do you need a bodyguard?”

“Actually, you can call me Ginger. Your mom needs a bodyguard, because...”

He wasn't sure what Rose wanted to say.

“Aunt Brit said Carter might be near, so she sent Ginger to protect us.”

Ginger hadn’t been expecting that. He didn'tknowhow hefeltabout the boy knowing so much detail about Carter. Growing up, Ginger's mom had sheltered him from anything she worried would give him nightmares. Rose laiditoutthereas if she talked to a teenager.

She must have picked up on the surprise, because she turned to Ginger. “I don't lie to my son, and he doesn't lie to me. If something scares him, we talkitout.”

Tyler huffed in the back seat. “I can protect you, Mommy.”

“Iknow, son,” Rose said without missing a beat. “We are just humoring Aunt Brit for a couple of days.”

Ginger wanted to remind her he didn't plan to leave until he had intel or his commander made him report back to California.

Tyler talked in the back seat about a new class pet, and he couldn't wait untilitwas his turn to bring the rabbit home.

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